Sunday, November 20, 2005

Christian Dating

Here's 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, using the NIV footnotes instead of the main text:

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to acquire a wife in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

So what does this tell us about dating (as just one application)?

We should always act in a way that is holy

We should act in a way that is honourable

We shouldn't be driven by passionate lust

We shouldn't wrong others

We shouldn't take advantage of others

Now whatever you think of dating, and for my part I think that the whole Josh Harris thing is largely just semantics, this seems like very good advice.